I grew up in a dancing environment.

My parents were both in The Australian Ballet and danced their way to Germany. It was when they retired and came home to Melbourne that they became dance teachers.

My parents had a ballet school, so when they were teaching I would sit in the corner of the studio and occupy myself. I was always around ballet and I loved watching the pretty dancers. By the time I was three years old I was ready to start dancing too.

In high school I had to study via distance education because I was so focused on dancing. I would spend hours training. Six years ago I joined The Australian Ballet. I was 17, and the youngest person to join the company since the early ‘90s.

Since then, dancing has taken me all around Australia and overseas.

In my first year at The Australian Ballet, we went to Paris, London and Manchester. Two years later I was in Japan, and our last trip was to New York. I was only in New York for four days, with only one day set aside to explore. I ended up running around like a maniac, trying to see everything all at once.

I spend around half my time in Sydney, and it took a long time for the city to grow on me. Now that I’ve gotten to know Sydney’s little haunts, when I arrive it feels like I haven’t left. I’m lucky to be able to work with The Australian Ballet because I’m usually not too far from home. Some dancers in international companies have to wait a year or more while they’re on tour before they see their families. We live for the job. Because we’re such gypsies it can be hard to keep relationships, so I’m fortunate my boyfriend dances with The Australian Ballet too.

It’s pretty amazing to have travelled so much, but it also has its ups and downs. I feel like a gypsy sometimes. I’m constantly packing and unpacking. It’s exciting to experience each city and see different places, but for a homebody like me it can be very trying. As much as I love the excitement of being in a different city and on stage each night, I’m a Melbourne girl and I cherish the nights I get to stay at home.

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Photo by Jim McFarlane, courtesy of The Australian Ballet.